


Silent Agreement

by little_abyss



Series: The Rubble of Empire [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: 5 Acts Meme, Being Dalish, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 21:36:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3785113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_abyss/pseuds/little_abyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And here it is, the final part.  No arguments in this one, just Dorian and Iron Bull being awesome.  Together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent Agreement

The Iron Bull is beginning to worry that he might be thinking of Dorian too much.  He can hear his voice, though he knows there is no reason for Dorian to be in the Herald’s Rest this early in the day - he has no business with anyone here, comes only to drink very occasionally, but still, Bull keeps hearing his voice.  

 

So he goes upstairs, ostensibly to shoot the shit with Sera, who he likes but rarely sees, and there he is.  Sitting upstairs with the Inquisitor, nodding at something she is telling him.  Bull can see, just by the set of her shoulders and by the way her head is bowed that this might not be a conversation that he’s going to be welcomed in on, so behind her back he tilts his head at Dorian, who nods.  So Bull walks over, turning to look at Taleth, who looks up at him and smiles sadly.  “Siddown, ya big lug,” she says, and he notes her eyes are red-rimmed, a little swollen.  She has both hands wrapped around a huge tankard of ale, more than she looks like she’d ever be able to drink.  “I dunno, Dorian,” she says, looking back at the mage, the Dalish lilt in her voice very pronounced, making Bull wonder if she’s drunk, “I can’t see a way to go there without collapsing.  Or stabbing the nearest shem.  Ooop, human,” she grimaces, “sorry.”

“No offence taken,” he waves a hand, “I think I can understand the sentiment.”

“It’s just… Dirthavaren isn’t a place that I’d ever thought I’d go.  It’s still so fucked there… like, worse than the Graves.  I mean, Orlais is still fighting over it, they’re still claiming it as their territory, even though it’s our homeland.  And I’ve tried explaining it to Cullen, but he’s completely oblivious, all ‘but that was seven hundred years ago’, and I was all ‘not to me it wasn’t’, and…” she sighs, and repeats, “He doesn’t get it.  I love him, but he doesn’t get it.  I just… no-one seems to understand it.  Solas gives me a bunch of patronising bullshit, Sera acts like she doesn’t give a damn about it, and like… really.  I mean…”  She’s lost for words for a moment, and then swallows and says simply, “I don’t want to go.  I don’t want to see the place were so many of the People died, even if it was a long time ago.”

 

Dorian and Bull are both silent, thinking.  Dorian reaches across the table, takes one of Taleth’s hands.  Her hands are cold and clammy, and as they watch, her face breaks apart, and she sobs, “What was so exalted about it, huh?  The fucking Chantry’s been shitting on us ever since Andraste got burned, who’d they think they are?  Take our gods away, take our language, our history, take our homes and families.  Lock us up in alienages or eject us from society altogether.”  She wipes the back of her free hand under her nose, then wipes the palm across her eyes.  “Ir abelas, Mi’durgen, Dirth.  I didn’t mean to take this out on you.  Either of you.”

Bull looks at Dorian quickly, and then clears his throat.  “You don’t have to be sorry.  You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.  We know your path wasn’t one you chose, but you have to walk it.  Whether you say it mala suledin nadas or asit tal-eb, it means the same thing.  But know this,”  he pauses, looks at Dorian again, who nods and smiles slightly, grips Taleth’s hand tighter, “You won’t ever walk it alone.  We’ll be there.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a bit of FYI here:  
> So, I headcanon my Dalish Quizzy, Taleth is resentful as hell about the whole Inquisitor deal. She gets all paralyzed with rage over the fact that she can't just run off and protect her clan, and has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the other elves, and with Cullen, her LI. But she does give everyone Dalish nicknames - mi'durgen is the Elven for diamond, and dirth means secret knowledge.
> 
> And you guys, you have no idea how much your comments and enthusiasm and kudosing and stuff have meant to me. Like, seriously. No words for it. I just wanted to put that in there, because (and I'm sure we've all had moments of this) you do feel like you're firing stuff out into the void a bit, not knowing if it'll be enjoyed, or loathed, or even seen at all. So yeah. Big thanks to all of you, shining stars in the firmament of the Internet, all of you.


End file.
